Principal: The show must (not) go on

Keila Torres Ocasio

Published 10:36 pm, Wednesday, December 4, 2013

TRUMBULL -- After a week of campaigning to save the musical "RENT: School Edition," students at Trumbull High School were told Wednesday their principal's controversial decision to cancel the performance still stands.

Marc Guarino, who is serving his first year as the high school's principal, initially told students last Monday that he planned to veto their choice for the annual THS Thespian Society performance.

Larissa Mark, president of the Thespian Society, said she was shocked by the news and had thought the informational meeting had been scheduled to discuss the upcoming auditions.

The musical, which covers topics of AIDS, homosexuality and drug use, could have been a positive way for students to openly address the significance of those topics in their lives, she said.

"When you put them on in a high school, you're making a statement that they're no longer taboo, that we're an accepting environment," Mark said.

While advisors began working on a plan B, Mark decided to fight for what she and other students believed was right.

"The biggest help for this cause was how connected we are through social media," she said.

In the course of a few hours, news spread through Facebook about Mark's campaign.

"Our angle was just to create awareness of the issue," she said.

The following day, students passed around a petition to their peers and collected more than 1,500 signatures. They also created an online survey for individuals over the age of 18 -- parents, educators and Trumbull residents -- to give their take on whether the show should go on.

A link to the survey was made available through Facebook and emailed to potential participants. The result was that 97 percent of the 395 respondents expressed support for the students, Mark said.

The results were turned into Guarino, who last Friday agreed to reconsider his decision.

Yet on Tuesday, in a letter submitted to the Board of Education, Guarino decided to stand by his original decision.

"I think he was doing what he thought was best," Mark said. "I don't think he expected the reaction that occurred.

"Ultimately, it is the principal's decision," she added, noting that students will respect it.

The story may not end there, though.

Less than an hour after Mark posted Guarino's final decision on the group's "Trumbull for RENT" Facebook page, the post had more than 100 messages of people lamenting the principal's veto.

Some commentators even offered the use of venues in other towns to host the production.